Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp SP-12, Fort Necessity, Farmington, PA

TECHNICALINFORMATIONCENTE~ DENVERSERVICECENTER NATIONALPARKSERVICE -

FORT NECESSITY CIVILIAN CONSERVATIONCORPS CAMP SP-12 1935-1937

bY Larry N. Sypolt ~'November 15, 1988 Morgantown, WV I Preface

This paper is meant to be an administrative history of the

Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp SP-12, Fort Necessity, Farmington, PA. The CCC camp at Fort Necessity existed for only two and one-half years, from June 1935, through December 1937. This oral history project was conducted with people who served the CCC program at Fort Necessity during those years. I have gotten interviews from a camp advisor, camp military officer, local experienced man, work leader and enrollees, the purpose of which was to yet an idea of what this experience meant to people at all levels. The first section opens with a brief overview of the CCC program in general. No attempt was made here to tell its whole story, as many books have already been written on the subject. This overview is followed by the administrative history at Fort Necessity, with papers following that are of particular interest to the camp. The second section contains the edited transcripts of the interviews. It is followed by some written interviews sent by people some distance away or who were not available for an oral interview. A list of questions is contained with their answers. I would also like to take this time to thank all those who helped me with this~,"project. A special thanks to Bill Fink and his staff at -Fort Necessity National Battlefield for all of their ,,- help and cooperation. Last, but not least, a special thanks to my typist. 2., , and over ten thousand unemployed people were put to work in the last year of Roosevelt's Governorship.' The country was ready for a Qrogram such as this. In March 1933, it was estimated that over thirteen million Americans were unemployed. Three years of depression had dealt a blow to the economy, and almost everyone was affected. Over two million people were drifting around the land. Many left their homes and moved in with relatives to cut costs. Jobs were non-existent. Many just stayed home, tired from looking for work. Many were young. These young had never been able to get a start in life. Many had left home to find any kind of work and ended up in jail, municipal shelters, soup lines and worse. 2 A perfect work force was wasting away. Eight months earlier, at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt had pointed out that abandoned farms and cutover forests were "growing up in worthless brush." He declared that every European nation had a definite land policy. "We have none," he went on. "Having none, we face a future of soil erosion and timber famine." 3 In his acceptance speech, Roosevelt said, "Let us use common sense and business sense, and, just as one example, we know that a very hopeful and immediate means of relief, both for the unemployed and for agriculture, will come from a.,wide; plan of the converting of many millions of acres of marginal and unused land into timber land through _' refore&ation."4 Forests of 800,000,000 acres once covered the iinited States. This number was now down to 100,000,000 acres. Much of the'nation's timber had been squandered. This reduction had compounded the problem of soil erosion. Water and wind carried away six hillion tons of American soil each year. Overseas, the governments of Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Germany had established conservation camps for the unemployed. Many states in the United States had started forestry camps on a limited basis. Roosevelt continued in his acceptance speech, "Employment can be given to a million men. This is the kind of work that is self-sustaining.....Yes, I have a very definite program for providing employment by that means. (15 Frankin D. Roosevelt took the oath of office as the 32nd President on March 4, 1933. On March 9, 1933, he called a meeting with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior and War, the Director of the Budget, the Judge Advocate General of the Army and the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior to discuss the conservation program outline. They formulated a hastily prepared bill which was introduced into Congxess on March 13, 1933. This bill was immediately withdrawn because modifications were needed. 6 On March 15, 1933, the Secretaries of War, Agriculture,

Interior and Labpr .,met to work out the precise details of the conservation,program. Three recommendations came out of this .^. : ~,.' meeting: First; direct relief grants would be given to the states; second, a large public works program would be started; and, third, a carefully designed soil erosion and forestry program would be instituted. This proposal was resubmitted to Congress on March 21, 1933. It also stated that a relief measure would provide clothing, daily sustenance, medical attention, hospitalization and a cash allowance for the unemployed who would be hired for work in fire prevention, flood control, soil erosion and other conservation related duties. 7 President Roosevelt signed the bill on March 31, 1933, when it finally passed both houses of Congress. He also asked that the program begin in two weeks. The four departments would administer the program jointly and each would have specific duties; The Department of Labor would initiate a nationwide program to recruit workers. The Army was to con- dition and transport workers to camp and administrate and supervise the camps and the Park Service and Forest Service were to assign work projects. The official agency would be known as the Emergency Conservation Works (ECW). Unofficially called the Civilian Conservation Corps, the name was officially changed to this in 1937.* Robert Fechner was chosen Director of the ECW in 1933. Fechner was a respected labor leader. He served on the qovern- 'I'~ 3~

! j inq board of the International Association of Machinists and was -a +ce president of the American Federation of Labor. He met Roosevelt during World War I when he was an advisor on 5 labor policy. He worked hard for Roosevelt's election in 1932. Opposition from organized labor to the relief measures of 1933 made his appointment a wise one. 9 The act further set out to say that those employed would be so with no discrimination in regard to race, color or creed and that they would be furnished shelter, sustenance, clothing, medical attention, cash allowance and transportation. Those enrolled would also have to be citizens of the United States. The Department of Labor was designated to select the men to be enrolled. The original enrollment was fixed at 250,000 men between the ages of 18 and 25. These enrollees were to be physically fit, unemployed, unmarried, having dependents and desire a part of their cash allowance be sent to these dependents. This afforded employment to those in greatest need. Each state was assigned a quota based upon its population in proportion to the total population. A state director of selection was chosen in each state. Two problems developed in the selection of enrollees. One, the importation of large groups of men into certain states deprived local men of the opportunity to pursue their usual vocations; and, two, the problem of replacement of losses if the number of 250,000 men was to be maintained. Both problems were solved by the authorization to increase the number of enrollees to 274,375men for the first enrollment period. This would provide..for an average of 250,000 for enrollment and extend opportunities to 35,250 citizens who were experienced, P - 6

Ii 1: unemployed, and physically fit woodsmen, residing in the vicinity of the work projects. The Department of War enrolled all men selected except some Indians and non-Indians living on reservations. Men had to be found physically acceptable and willing to take the "Oath of Enrollment." Men selected by state directors were required to present themselves to established Army recruiting stations nearest to the point of selection. In some cases, men selected would report directly to work sites or conditioning camps. The United States is geographically broken down into nine corps areas for administering the Army. The CCC follows these same areas because of its military administration. Army posts in these corps areas are used as conditioning camps for the enrollees on their way to camp. The conditioning of men consisted of immunization against disease, initiation of records, providing clothing and equipment, organizing men into companies of 200 men each, and building up their bodies for the outdoor life to follow. This period averaged two to three weeks. The Department of War also had the general responsibility of administering all work camps. The Army provided shelter, clothing, food, medical care, compensation, recreation, educational activities, religious activities, equipment and ; a disciplinary code. The Army was selected because it had -. ,,' the-orgxanizational means and personnel to carry out these responsibilities. On July 1, 1933, the War Department reported that the mobilization had'been completed. Over 1315 camps had been established. These camps were staffed by 3641 regular and 1774 reserve officers of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Eventually, all regular officerswere to be replaced by reserve officers. When it reached its peak strength of 506,000 enrollees in 1935, the CCC was commanded by 9300 reserve officers." No relationship to military service was connected to the CCC. There were to be no drills or military maneuvers. The Army was chosen for its ability to organize and supervise men. Army style, such as companies and squad leaders, has proved effective in supervising large contingents of man. It was just transferred to the management of the CCC. While the Army had authority for the actual administration of the camps, the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior were responsible for the work projects and forest management. Each camp had assigned personnel from the respective agencies to coordiante field work. Each camp had an officer commanding it and a superintendent overseeing the work projects being done. This worked like a dual command. The War Department personnel were responsible for the camp and the Agriculture and Interior Departments' personnel were responsible for the enrollees once 11 they left camp on/' work_~ details. The Forest Service, National Park Service, State Park Servic&'; Soil.Erosion Service and other agencies coordinated

J efforts with the military to accomplish work projects. Work projects consisted of many varied activities. The National Park Service planned, designed and constructed bridges, buildings, roads and trails, fire lookout stations and shelters. They aiso supervised the solution of drainage, erosion 12 and other problems relating to forest and landscape preservation. The State Park Service was responsible for work on state, county and municipal parks. Their project generally was to prevent and control forest fires and tree pests and diseases and whatever work necessary to control floods. The Soil Erosion Service was established in October 1933. Its objectives were to show how erosion can be checked and controlled and create a permanent anti-erosion program. The point to stress is that all depariiments worked together with the enrollees. The military mobilizes, conditions and administers the enrollee while the other departments show them how to work and assign them tasks to put this knowledge to use.13 Park superintendents were responsible for making up the work schedules and inspection of the work. State parks drew up their own work programs. These were submitted to the Park Service for approval. The Park Service supplied the states with guidelines for the type of work that could be undertaken. The'states chose their own staffs to administer 14 the york,pro'grams.y in th'eir camps. Designations were given to tell the type of administration of each camp. The letters were as follows: 15 s - State Forest F or NF - National Forest P - Private Land E - Erosion Camp NP - National Park SP - State Park NM - National, Monument .MP - Military Park The numbers assigned would then indicate the number of a particular camp in any given state. Later, numbers would be assigned .with particular areas and camp designators in mind.16 During the eight year life of the Civilian Conservation Corps, over three million men participated in CCC camps. Their contributions to America still stand today as tributes to one of the most successful government programs in history. No program of this magnitude had been tried before and none has been tried since. The men benefitted, their families benefitted and most of all, America benefitted. L . -I I

Camp SP-12, Fort Necessity I I Fort Necessity is located off U.S. Route 40 in Fayette county'; Pennsylvania. The battle at Fort Necessity is significant in history for several reasons, two of which are the beginning of the French and Indian War in America; and it was the first real battle of George Washington's military career.17 Both houses of Congress approved a bill to appropriate money for a memorial at Fort Necessity. The President signed

the bill in 1931, authorizing Fort Necessity National Battle-

field Site to be under the jurisdiction of the War Department and administered by Gettysburg National Military Park. This was only two acres of land immediately around the site of the fort. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased 313 acres of Great Meadows surrounding th e fort and called it Fort Necessity Park. It was administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters. On July 4, 1932, a reconstructed stockade was dedicated in observance of the Washington Bicentennial. 18 The Civilian Conservation Corps was established the following year when Franklin D. Roosevelt became President. This program grew steadily each year and many camps were added as the enrollment increased. Judge Michael Musmanno, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, had more power than,.aQy other man in the area. He said that we must glorify the historical spots in America. He thought that +- Fort Necessity'.would be an ideal location for a CCC camp. The camp would be at a place of historical significance and not at a private place which would be questionable. Upon his recom- mendation, Fort Necessity was chosen. The first CCC camp to set up at Fort Necessity consisted of roughly seventy .men from the Uniontown area. This was in the spring of 1935. The Democratic party first chose the sons of democratic supporters as enrollees for the camp. The 19 leaders for the camp were also chosen from Democratic rolls. Fort Necessity was given the designation of SP-12. The initials, SP, stand for State Park and the number 12 is the camp number in order of opening. It was located in the Third Corps Area. This is also the Army's Third Corps Area. The company of enrollees in camp was given the designation of Company 2326. The Army provided the administration of the camp. The first group of officers to staff the CCC camp at Fort,Necessity were Capt. Samuel R. Campbell, commanding officer, Insign Richard Price, junior officer, and Lt. Paul E. Davison, junior officer. Ensign Richard Price was one of the few naval reserve officers to serve the CCC program. Ensign Price was a graduate of Georgia Tech, with an engineering degree. He was commissioned through the Navy R.O.T.C. program there. He became unemployed after holding state road jobs in -Delaware. The Navy contacted him about becoming a. camp officer. He accepted, thinking he might ,r eventually get a j~ob working on a dam project or another engineering type project. He spent his entire CCC service _ in camp aamlnlstration, eventually becoming commander of Camp SP-10, Somer'set, ?A. OthQ members of the camp staff included: Henry C. Brooke Camp Superintendent Daul F. Miles Educational Advisor James W. Rogers Elementary Education Adviser Tola 3. Eaker Crafts Adviccr Don A. Maust Art Advisor

Standing L. to R.: Brooke, ---, Byers, McGill, Ramella kneeling, Laffey, ---, Baker, Stewart Senior Work Foremen were~)-ylie Byers, Sr., Paul X. McGill and William Baker. Junior Foremen were Matthew Laffey, ~+<- Sabastian Ramella and Frank Camilla. Judson Miller, William Richie, Byron Shoff and Albert Zack rounded out the staff. 20 13 I, ,

Approximately 200 enrollees comprised the company. The first company reporting to Fort Necessity had the hardest time. They were issued surplus Army tents for their camp. They remained quartered in these until wood barracks were built before winter. The tents could hold up to 32 cots. Tents were also used for .the Army and park administration and private quarters. Meals were served from a mess tent. Water was obtained from a small stream meandering through the Great Meadow. Farther down stream, the water was dammed up and canvas walls set up to provide bathing facilities for the .xen. This was discontinued after the permanent barracks were constructed.21

Picture 0: Camp SP-12 The permanent camp, when complete, consisted of seven barracks, .mess hall, Army officers' quarters, civilian supervisors' quarters, food storage building,.pump house, blacksmith shop and possibly a garage. The camp was U-shaped with the flag in the center, The following is a description of the buildings in the above picture. It was provided during the 50th anniversary celebration of the CCC in 1983 by the late Wylie Byers.

a 0

A ii

A=Army Officers Quarters F=Pump House B=Barracks G=Food Storage C=Blacksmith'Shop ~' H=Garaqe (?) D=Mess Hall I=Unknown E=Civilian+- Superjisors Qtrs. Interior o: Barracks .:r . . 16

Recreation and education programs were the next priority of the CCC can@. Enrollees were only required to work 40 hours per week. Other activities were required to occupy their evening and weekend hours. Courses covering almost every imaginable subject were offered from the elementary to the college level. One enrollee might be learning how to read and write and another might be taking a correspondence course through a local state 23 college. The basic mission of the enrollees at Fort Necessity in 1935 was to get the camp started and do forestry work. Re- forestation was a major project, but other activities such as clearing fire trails and underbrush, clearing trails and building roads were done. 24 A typical day in the life of an enrollee consisted of getting up at 6:15 A.M. Roll call was at 6:30 with breakfast following at 7:O0. Barracks inspection followed and 8:00 found the boys in formation for their daily work details. The work supervisors now instructed the junior leaders and their work crews in their assignments, and they headed out into the field. Noon found the boys having lunch. Weather permitting, trucks brought the food to the work site. Sometimes the trucks were sent to the work site to bring the enrollees back to camp for lunc~h.,~ Mail call was everyday after lunch, just before the work crews went back to their assignments. The work c&ws returned to camp about 3:30 P.M. for a final half- hour of camp clean up. The hour between then and 5:00 P.M. was used to clean

UP/ change clothes and prepare for retreat, the only formation which was close to Army routine. Respect to the flag was paid and dinner was served. 25 Food at the CCC camps was wholesome and plentiful. Every enrollee got as much food'as he could eat. The average boy grew into a man during his stay in camp, He gained weight and breadth. He became a conditioned person instead of someone just sitting around doing nothing. Some food was purchased locally and other food was brought in by the Army. 26 One purpose of buying local food was to help stimulate the local economy. Not only were the local youth helped, the economy was helped as well. Other local men were hired at Fort Necessity as Local Experienced Men (LEM's). These were people who would not have qualified as enrollees but had special talents that were needed in camp. David Maskulka was brought in as a mechanic. He spent over two years helping the enrollees learn mechanics and keep the camp vehicles in repair. 27 Lewis D. Wissinger was another LEM hired by the CCC and sent to Fort Necessity. He worked for Mrs. Martin at the Fort Necessity Museum and at the guard house. He also planted shrubs and trees around Mount Washington Tavern. Mrs. Martin was a seasonalemployee for the Park Service. 28 Some of the menin camp did work on the side to earn extra money. James Decarlucci was a barber before he entered the CCC program. He came to Fort Necessity from the camp at I

Galeton, PA., where he served as a leader. His experience in this camp earned him higher wages at Fort Necessity. He received $46.00 per month, instead of the standard $30.00. He did barbering on the side for extra money. He had one of the few cars in camp and made some extra money transporting enrollees to Uniontown and back to camp. He said he sent all $46.00 home to his folks and lived on the extra money he made. The average enrollee received $30.00 per month and had to send $25.00 home. Mr. DeCarlucci had the duty of time keeper for the work crews at Fort Necessity. He would count heads during the work assignments in the morning and again at lunch. He would give his report of enrollees being present for work. 29 Recreation played a very important part in the life of an enrollee. Time in the evenings and weekends was for the enrollee to do what he wanted to do. Libraries were started at the CCC camps all across America. They were instant libraries. Crates of books were sent to the camps which held some 50 books. The crates were designed to have the top removed and be hung on the wall as a bookcase. Periodically, the cases would be shipped to another camp and new books would arrive in their place. 30 Dances were organized either in Uniontown or at Fort Necessity. An advertisement would be sent out in advance informing' iocal girls,/of the event and where it would be held. Trucks would then take the enrollees to town or bring the girls to Fort Necessity if the dance was there. WPAbands were used to provide music for these events. A camp newspaper was published by the enrollees who were interested in journalism. This paper was published under three different names, depending on the publication date. The original paper was simply called Camp Necessity. The second paper was called -The Southern Echo and the final papers were named --The Fort. -The Southern Echo was used by the boys from the South.

Don Maust was advisor to all of the papers. -The Southern Echo has the distinction of being the first of this type of publication to be prepared by offset printing. It was done in Chicago. It was quite revolutionary for the 1930's. Some papers today do not have the quality achieved by this paper in 1936. Education in the camp came in many forms. structured classes were offered to those wanting to learn trades or new things. The titles of these courses were endless. Federal agencies as well as colleges across the nation were willing to send material and filmstrips to the camp for its use. Many enrollees learned trades that they would use for the rest of their lives. Another type of education was also learned in camp. This was a more personal kind of education. Personal hygiene was probably practided~for the first time by some of the enrollees. Clean Jivinq habits were practiced daily in camp. Every morning the men would rise and put on clean clothes. When they returned from the field in the evening, they would clean themselves up . 20

and put on clean clothes for retreat and dinner. For some enrollees in the 30's, this was probably the first time iil their;lives that they bathed regularly. Six months of daily grooming put them in a routine that they followed for the rest of their lives. 31

A Typical Study Area In The CCC CFSlpZ

_...

team. He had hung around and played basketball under Paul Miles in high school and went on playing with the boys in the CCC camp. He says the only game he did not play in was a tournament game where he was recognized by a member of the opposing team. 32 The CCC enrollees at Fort Necessity mainly did work around the camp and park. They were, however, available to be called

to other places in time of emergency. One such instance at Fort Necessity happened after the Johnstown flood in 1936. The company of enrollees from Fort Necessity, as well as those from Bakersville (S-99), Salisbury (S-97) and Rockwood (S-98), were detailed to Johnstown, PA, to help with flood cleanup. Capt. S. R. Campbell, the commanding officer from Fort Necessity was named Battalion Commander for this operation. Headquarters were set up in~Cochran Junior High School. The enrollees were also quartered there. The primary tasks tiere cleaning the streets of mud and debris and cleaning mud from the basements of private homes so furnaces could be relit for heat. This would permit private families to qo back to their homes. There was an average of twenty trucks and 448 men working each day for two weeks to clean up the town. Holding true to the concept of providing something to do at all times, evening recreation and movies were provided for the entertainment and education of the enrollees. ~._

cThe menwere highly praised for their clean up work by F '- the Mayor of Johnstown and the,Sub-District Commander of the ccc. Besides streets, about 750 basements had been cleaned and limed; and almost 3000 truck loads of dirt and debris had been removed from the flooded area. 33 The men could be very proud of their accomplishments. The summer of 1936 brought changes to the CCC program at Fort Necessity. The old military staff moved on and a new one took its place. Capt. Jefferson 2. Amacker formed CCC Company 5462 at Fort McClellan, Alabama, on May 14, 1936. It was manned by 145 enrollees. Lt. John G. Cooke joined the group at Fort McClellan as the junior officer. Here t‘ne men went into their conditioning program before their start north to Fort Necessity, by a special chartered train. The primary mission of this company was soil conservation and park improvement. 3 4 24

The picture on the preceding page represents the staff of CCC Company 5462~ They are: Left, Lt. Leo Robbins (camp doctor); Center,>Capt. J. Z. Amacker (CO); Right, Lt. John Cooke (junior officer). One of the major park improvements started by this company was the construction of a parking lot for visitors to the fort. The parking lot was to be 400 ft. long and 40 ft. wide. After cuts and fills were completed for leveling, shale was used to provide a surface that was usable in any kind of weather. A path was then constructed from the parking lot to the fort itself. It was also of shale. Throughout the park, picnic sites were constructed. Trees were cut out to allow space 35 for parking. The construction of shelters was planned. See the map on the following page for planned work projects by the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters. (See pictures at the end of this section). New enrollees came from the South to reinforce the company when enlistments were up. A.G. St. John remembers coming by train and stopping in Washington, D-C., for a lay-over. He recalled visiting the White House, Capitol, Washington Monument and other places before boarding the train for the remainder of the journey. His duties at Fort Necessity included being a guide at the fort, greeting and registering visitors and maintaining the area around the fort. He maintains that he .,a ,. is the man standing in the picture used for advertising Fort . ~--_ ,/ Necessity+-& the back cover of the menu for the restaurant in Uniontown. 26

The final year for the CCC camp at Fort Necessity was 1937.

Company 1329 came from Somerset and Company 5462 was transferred to Somerset. Capt. Samuel N. Lowry was Commanding Officer, Lt. S. Lee Kaufman was junior officer and Lt. Kenneth V. Lowe, doctor. Programs started in 1936 were continued until December 15 and the closing of the camp on December 20, 1937. The CCC program had reached its height nationwide and the hard times of the Depression were letting up. It was getting difficult to find men to fill all of the CCC camps. The personnel on hand were assigned to other camps. The technical personnel were disbanded. The education staff was assigned to other WPA duties. 31 Some enrollees were transferred to Somerset and other camps. The enrollees who were stationed the closest to Fort Necessity were detached to Port Necessity to do small jobs. Lewis D. Wissinger recalls being there in February 1938, planting shrubs and trees around Mount Washington Tavern. 38 Several other people served in different capacities during the life of the camp. Lt. Robert R. Maynes served as Commanding Officer for a short time in 1937. Two other doctors also served the camp. They were Dr. William Hubbard, a contract surgeon, and Lt. Robert Tisherman, an Army doctor. Lt. John Howell, Lt. Clarence A. Remaley, Lt. William Calhoun, Lt. Kenneth A. Whitney and Capt. William 0. Zackarias served the camp as junior officers at one time or another. Some of them only;'Served during the transfer of enrollees to or from the -camp. / UP~- __~.~, 27 '

Several technical personnel other than those already mentioned served at Fort Necessity. They were William E. Adams, Arthur V. Banks, Perry N. Allawan, William Stewart, J. Ewing Keener, Thomas McDowell, Stanley Ferris, Jack Bostic, James Cowan and Tom Loy. Tom.Loy, I believe, was a historian at the fort. The two-and-a-half year life of the camp saw 850 boys 39 turn into men. Numbered among these were 250 southern boys. The local population played an important role in the life of the officers and enrollees of Fort Necessity. The surrounding families gave some of the boys extra work to earn extra money. Some local people gave wives of the officers places to live while their husbands were stationed at Fort Necessity. Richard Price recalled that his wife stayed with a lady named Mrs. McCarthy who lived across the road from Gorleys Hotel. The Price's would frequently go to the hotel for dinner when Ens. Price was not on duty. On weekends his wife would come to the CCC camp for dinner. Lt. Davison was married shortly after the Price's. His wife came out to Fort Necessity to stay with him. Mrs. Davison

and Mrs. Price then moved to the small town of Farmington and stayed in the house of John Hager, where they each had a room. 40 They stayed there until Ens. Price was transferred. Many~men who served the CCC in one form or another continued activitiegj.;earned here for the remainder of their ..c> working li.ve_s. Jacob ,/Sheads, a~ seasonal employee with the Park S&ice,' retired from the Park Service. So did Lewis Wissinger and others. Whatevertheir careers, all the enrollees 28 agreed that the program started by Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of the best things ever in this country. It prepared young people,. for life. It prepared men physically for the rigors of

World War II. It prepared military and naval officers for commands that they would get in just a few short years. Most importantly, it put the whole country back on its feet. It involved the lives of everyone from the top of the government to the rural farm. It brought stability and comradeship to the country. ,’ -. SIDE FRONT TOP , .

FRONT TOP RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN AN NPS CAMP, 1933

ARMY care and supervision Camp Commander of enrollees (regular or res. Army officer)

I I I I I 1 cook supply sergeant mess sergeant doctor chaplain dentist educational (later civilian)’ .<(later civilian) (later civilian) (part-time) (part-time) (part-time) advisor

NPS developing and overseeing work programs

I I I skilled workers one foreman/4060 men (machine operators, insect control construction workers, blister rust control supervisory mechanics, truck trail construction truck trail locators, fire suppression blacksmiths, landscaping tool sharpeners, blister rust control checker tractor and pump miscellaneous mechanics) I _ Number 1 Paul 3. tales --.t.+mp zaucationc;1 I.dviseI+. July ‘1936 ..- _ liews letter of the office of Educationr;nd.r(cc~c~ti.~n ?or camp Xembers .i

.:, _. $+ow Members: . - .I_ : This sheet is to acquaint; you with the recent 'addition of sever+: . .._ ;z, .,.'. .: ,. al nedr e'du&tional courses.. ._,. 'Y..' :.~,,,::: .: All of theee courses carry with them' certificat;es~..of 'merit on .I::: ,...... i satisfactory completion; :. : i -i."". ;, :',:',z, Each course studied will broaden yqur &a&e for success'in the '::':. Suture. The majorfoy of these subjects will be hand&d as Individual instruction, eacn gtudont vQlL be in a cl%:s;s by himself, 90 tnat fit-2 may progress as rupidly or elowly as his tine Sor study alloys. Ti+~e yypri?us gqtqr+s have been di.vi'$ed into lca?ons. The div- ision of the courses into lcssohs set dof2nite tiisks for the student* These requirements are not so difficult as', to discourage you, cifia yet .they furnish a means of~tcs6ing your knovrlledge. You Wy enroll for any of these cours$s from to&y on. .+-even 1 .: @u&gent that you takeseveral at one time ~ iin order that; '&&~may':ha~i.' .8 h%sibn' fop study 'wnllrt the prepiaus >os!#n aa bein& grade~di -?" "-..~. .. : I .E:aCh CoUrtSki OorldiEts of from 5 to 18i;leaaons; each com&ea of .~ from 5 to 20 type-written pages. In rmbpait matter tho lessons closCL. 1: ly resomblq the lccturcs Eivon in oollc~o ~~&ises, but are more con- ~,~ densed in foga. In some cases the Tessons. iare based, upon'exi,stiy.:,:.. ~.: ~textbooks, but i.nmoat instances satisfact.&y texts are not available:, 1 a<: ,. ._., : and the lessons thomsolves'becomc the basal!, course.

.~~+:&me , courses,- .-

:. . 1c .?J _-___-- _.- -... .-.----.-- -. .- __.. ._,___ ~___ r t a83i&n6U-@Ch coarse-.w-:Thcst: c=dl-to -rXprrsssn~t the relative amount of Work W?.ch the various cour~os require of the average student. ThrouEh'thc efforts 0.f this office, ;.ny student can upon satisfactory completion of enough subjects to the aggregate numbor'of sixty credits, receive a certificate of av:ard from the’~Pe.nz~sylvanie State Uollsge.

The neYI' CoUrseS 'being offered ::t this time z&r,? as 'foll&s: coumc. 1 -- PUNT LIFE. : ._. This Couree COnsiQtS of nine lesaonu FIhST ;iIY C&WE

on plant growth. It form u vary val- Thin courpo-in 'First l&id :, I 'Jill begin-Tuesday .even-, _. -: ua.blo foundation for the study oh t& ihe~ in the camp cltissroom~. ,? p~2ctlcal problems confrontiiig the It is necessary It;lgt jll:i:,. leaders and ass$stant ~:, '1;' farmer irnd the horticulturist. leaders attend thio..coursc., (10 credits) These discunnioil gro&-pG.: and instruction pe:.?dds..' ~..: will be under ths.direct- i ion of the crmp doctor:' ThlS COU?c%e consists of nine lOSsoil , Upon completion bf thin \ .on clemontary chcnical concopto. simp1c course an examination vii11 :. be given. Those making .' .experime-nts illustrating chemicrl aleu- p.ssin[: marks or above: " : : will. receive a herti,ficate.: cp 1 compounds znd mixturm are d.cs- Of award from the AmeriCan;~ /,/ Red C~OQS. ): '?.:_ . . cribed. Pbysicbl and chemloal pjopert-, !.. kny 'pe,mbe~r.~.of.;hc camp,,may; .!'. ios and changoe are distin@uishc<:. Some '@,1n this class,. by apl+>~;::: :._ ._. . ..~ . . . ..~ Zng Tuesday eve,ni;ng, .;of _thf. mpre ,:ommpn elements are-diccua~- ed in their application to cveryda;y life. : (12 credita): Courne 79 -- F'i&:,pOKZSjTf& ” ’

This Course consis;to~,.of ten ._,lesnons'dealing witn the establ&hment, _: ~~ ‘ care, management, and u,so of the fa.rm wood lot; :: The dlstino'tion .-_ .F' i . . ! be'twee~n %$d. w6id'lot Lin? the park obr‘picnic Ekound'.is brou@t lout.. This ina..cmx5e of ten lcsson 6 on the pChciplc5 of InOoct Con- trol. They cover iti a (-en::r;:l way trio principles involved and the netnod used in the control 0 f so:ile of the

course 98 y- PktrNer~nJB8 OF I~at;KKETr:~C; This course of twelve lessons expleins the problesS.of marketing fL?rnl products.. Supply tind demand, transportation, distribution, stor&ge) ohd sales@nship are 5ome of the t&piCs discussed. (17 credits)

t,hc JrntzGn Scientific School of SKi'min~; certificate. Classes in Rod Cross Life-Baving will also be started.for those who can svr3.mand wish to receive thePr credentials in this type of work . At least ei,ght hours of directed wdrk will be necessary for each

member before an cx5mihation ~111 bo &ivcn.

Upon successful conpletion of tili5 course each m&n vfill rcct?ivc hi pin, emblem uric? mmbcrship card into the hmerican Rod Cross Lifc- S:ving.Atsociation. D . A. E&.uot 0,s:, _. Acting Supervisor . -. F THW!ORLD;; KCST TiliC~C. I~~CIVIDL!AL IS T%E ONE WO XIVER STARTS ---.I- -._._ -, .~

He was afraid th::t he might $.Vo EL hit more ten he'd tjc:t,

SO ho ~?ould ilavcr tiir(: 2 chance,

(Unlerx it c’is a bet), Hc ‘wanted it ~(11 fl@rc>d out In dollars 2nd in cents, His faith WL~SV

j i And co hc went through life in doubt,, i'!hon c'nknces came his wdy Kc did not know Just wnat to do,

He put thca off a day, And when his mind WE satislied That he had better try, It was too late to do the,thing, The chance had thon gone by.

SOIX: fr:ith ic nt-.edcd in. this life,

Who h&r:: msp1c1onn of all things Y/ill wrone hirlself and .>rothero, Xho does his bes-; to reach the nelaht,

. -, .G'ill rcac'h the p:.Zce he wxlts to ~0, , ,- -., Ali thin&s wiI,l coma out right. ,

'TO AIlL W'riOM IT MAY.CONCERN:.

-I-HIS IS TO CERTIFYTHAT * . . . ..~.rs-.~.--....---...:..-~~.....-.~.~--.-...:71SsI'iGm 'CC3 2i7~

CIVILIANCONSERVATION CORPS, WHO WAS ENROLLED .-.-..?.!.?.%!w..

: OF AGEAND BY OCCUPATIONA -...... fr~-5e~~...... -..--~..-. HE HAI

,,-u%!?jE--. HAIR...... ~~.-.~.~-.-~~.-~~.COMPLEXION, AND WA

------_-._--__-___-____.O ._--_.-__ INCHES IN HEIGHT. HIS CPLORWAS .______

GIVENUNDER MY HANDAT ..-...... :...... ~.-., THIS-..

OF...... -~~~~~~-----~.----. ONETHOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND...... ?!:?!

,,.- ~o;:or,?blo 3ischarg2 : aotura to school to contima bduc.ztion . _ _ .______. ._ _ . _...... -- . . .._....._...... _.-.....-...... -...... i!...... _.__ ___...... _.. _. . ..__ 210 c222tizorizcd~ a’csoncas.

.s: 7-24~57,. 04-57, Q-9-57. CO:n?~Ot6d. j _: Imoculat iol ...... -.-_... .

.-.. . .._...... I' ----':~o~ru~ut'~ons-~or 7rcd~ct-~? . . . . ___._____.______I ___.______.______.______...... ,...... ~.~.~.~..~...... L ...... -...... -..-..~

____..____ .1______..______

.motteo: ;:r:. Cyrus i7issinm.w 5853 3-i *hton ;.. ____._.______._...~...~:_.__; .._____.______.__.___.__..___0 __._ T ______._...__.. ?. I

.- - -L- ---,.---l --__._, -- --.I-_-_ . ._-__ . ~*-*LL’WHOM. ,T MAy CONCERN: : ~._ ._. . . _.._ ., .._ ..- .._ .._. A. _--. .__- _. - -___ - ._..._, ~.’ . . . ~~1s I~TOCERT~~THA~,W _-.._-.._.Job Bercik- _..-..L.-...-.- (CC3-68015) ___-_-.:-, Jr A MEMBSROFTHE . CIVILIANCONSERVATION CORPS, WHO. WAS ENROLLED ...... ~~~.i_l...~~-i~~~~--...... --~-~..-..~ AT

IN THE STATEOF _..Pen~~:~.-~--- WHENENROLLED HE~As-~%----YEARS . . .. .-. ,. ‘, : i ..L _ < : .,x-L.--j ..^..--~I^- ..-. 1-.-_1._-1..-.

.: Interview with David Maskulka Date of Interview: December 4, 1985 Interviewer: Larry N. Sypolt Transcriber: Larry N. Sypolt Tape 1

LNS: My name is Larry Sypolt and I'm doing an interview on the Civilian Conservation Corp that was at Fort Necessity durinq, the years 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938; and today I'm interviewing one of the local enrollees who was at Camp Necessity. What is your name, sir? Maskulka: David Maskulka; Fairchance, PA. LNS : What dates were you at Camp Necessity? Maskulka: I was here from spring, 1935 through, probably fall; 1937. LNS: How or why was Camp Necessity chosen for you?

Maskulka: I didn't come here under standard procedure. At that time you couldn't get a job nowhere. I heard that there was an opening here, and I inquired around to see how I could get into this camp. After visiting with the forest ranger up at Somerset County, I followed his recommended procedures and was accepted. LNS: What was your specific job, and what projects did you work on at Camp Necessity? Maskulka: My job here was a mechanic. We had a shop on the grounds where we took all our trucks, dozers, graders and whatever we had. It was my job to keep these in repair, with a foreman in charge, who was Barney Keener. LNS: Did you work with the other enrollees? Maskulka: The only time I really worked with the enrollees was if I had a truck broke down and I had to go with him. He would probably help me get this truck on the road, or any other equipment that was broke down. *<: ,. ~.r, LNS: Do you remember anything of the organization of the camp or the'work structure? +‘. , ,_, Maskulka: our organization was something like an Army rule, because we had a certain time to get up in the morning and a certain time to get to the mess hall to eat our dinner and a certain time to eat our Noon meal. Usually we had to fall out for retreat when they brought the flag down. LNS: After retreat, what did you do in the evenings? Maskulka: This was up to us. we would have liberty at that time. Sometimes our liberties was restricted, but we could go off the camp. Sometimes there was trucks that would'take us into Uniontown to see a movie or go to a restaurant to eat. Sometimes we went out to the Braddock Inn for a little social life. LNS: Did you have any special type of activities for holidays? Maskulka: Usually we had the holiday off. We had libe'rty to go different places. If it was a special holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, we'd have a good turkey dinner and most of the people would stay here in camp. LNS : Did you have a Christmas party or anything like that? Maskulka: We had a Christmas party. We had a recreation hall and sometime~s some of the local people would come in. Some girls that some of the guys went out and met came in and we had a dance. We had a good time. LNS: Can you tell me anything you particularly liked or disliked about your stay at Camp Necessity? Maskulka: I don't think anyone disliked it here, unless some of the boys that came from Mississippi and Alabama got a little homesick. After they got over that, we were like a family and worked together. We had a good time together. LNS: Speaking of the boys from the south, how did they take to some of these Pennsylvania winters? Maskulka: They didn't like that too well. There wasn't much they could do about that. When it came time to work, you worked. That was standard; everybody had to work. +~YQu had your job to do and you went out to work. They enjoyed it. If they could get a pair of .skiis or a sled, they would enjoy that. ,, ._ LNS: HOWdid they like snow, since some of them saw it for,the first time? Maskulka: They liked it until they had to go out and work in it. They liked to watch it come down and build up; buy, when they had to go out and work and get their hands cold and their feet wet, they didn't like that too well. LNS: What was daily life like? Can you give me an idea of your schedule? Maskulka: We had our work schedule and then we had our recreation schedule for the weekend. I think on Wednesday nights each week they had liberty to go to town. The trucks would take them to town. LNS: How and what were you paid? Maskulka: I was paid more than most of the people here, because I was considered a L.E.M. _ ' LNS: What is an L.E.M.? Maskulka: A Local Enlisted Man. I picked up my full pay here. Their pay was limited to, I think, ten dollars. The rest, twenty dollars, was sent home to their family. LNS: How did you spend the money that you were allowed to keep? Maskulka: Well, at that time, that really helped to keep the family in my case because they weren't sent a share of my money. I gave them most of it. LNS: Was there any way you could earn extra money? Maskulka: I earned a little extra money when I was here. I know that some of the neighbors in this area had problems and I was a mechanic. I could do things and did some electrical work. I helped some of the families out around here. I know right up here on top of the hill, across from the tavern (Mt. Washington Tavern), an electrical storm came through. It put those houses out of electricity and they called me to help get it started again. They gave me a few dollaz;s.,. ~,> LNS: L,know that,some of the people here went to help out ".. ++ ~- after the Johnstown flood. Were you one of those peopfe?~ Maskulka: I took six trucks down to Johnstown during the flood (clean-up). We had them on the road about a week hauling beds and mattresses and whatever they needed. We took whatever we could get hold of. LNS: Did other people from the camp help in any other way? Maskulka: Yes, we had some people down there. We had some that stayed.in a high school building there. They had cots in the school building and helped clean up the streets. LNS: Did you have time for educational activities? Maskulka: I didn't have, personally, because I was pretty busy at the job that I had. I put.in a lot of hours. I didn't work a regular shift. I worked whenever 1 had to work and I couldn't get into that. LNS: Do you know of any educational activities they had? Maskulka: They had educational activities here, but I'm not sure what they were, now. I'm sure that.some of them went to school or we wouldn't have had these people here to put the programs on. LNS: Can you remember,~what~ the procedure was when you were processed into the camp? Maskulka: The procedure when I was processed into camp was no more than a health examination. LNS: Were you issued uniforms?

Maskulka: Yes, I remember that we had the standard uniform and big heavy Army shoes. LNS: Was it the standard Army uniform of the time? Maskulka: It was the same thing. I don't think there was any difference. LNS: How were new people accepted into camp? How were the boys from the south accepted? Maskulka: We had no problems at all. They were very compatible. The only thing is, we had to get acquainted and some of them were a little hard to understand for a while. We mac$ ~1.t all right. LNS: c ~ ~: 'Y&z are refe&ing to the language? , , .- Maskulka: Yes. 5

LNS: Have you benefitted in later life from your ex- periences with the CCC program? Maskulka: I'm sure I did. I had some training there, working as a mechanic, which helped me along. Later in life, I worked as a mechanic in an automotive shop. During the war, I went to the Army. I worked as a mechanic part of the time there. Later in life I worked-at Penn State University as a mechanic. LNS: Were there any other reasons for you joining the CCC program, other than the depression and being out of work? Maskulka: I heard it was a great place to work, and they had some good meals there and a good place to sleep, and a lot of fun. I thought I'd give it a try. LNS: Can you make any other comments about your CCC days? Maskulka: No, I'm sure that it was time that was not wasted. LNS: How were you referred to in camp? Did they call. you by name? Did they refer to you as enrollees or boys? Maskulka: After we gc.t acquainted we were more or less a family. Everybody called each other by their first name. We just worked together as a family. LNS: Did you have any special relationships with any of the local families? Maskulka: Nothing more than if I was called out to help some- body out, because my family was not too far from here. I didn't get acquainted with the people around here. LNS: Did any of the local families here take an interest in any of the other boys? Maskulka: Oh, yes. I know times when some of the local. families invited some of the boys in for dinner, to the church, and gatherings where they could have recreation. LNS: Can you tell me what your relationship was with the camp officers? .,-, Maskulka: The, camp off,icers were good men. They treated us as 4 though they were officers. I found out in later life, duringmy Army service, that their being strict taught us a lot of things we needed to know later on. 6. .

They were very friendly to us. They did anything we would ask them to do. The office was always open when 'we got into trouble. We could go there and they would help us out. The foremen, under H.C. Brooke, that went out on the jobs were all experienced men. They had their own fields. If you worked under an officer, he knew what he was doing whether you were building roads or cutting trees. He also.knew what you were doing and made sure you were doing it carefully, because he didn't want you to get hurt. It was great working with them. I haa an experience working with my truck drivers. I went down to Ohiopyle to pick those men up. I picked the whole group up. The Mississippi group especially. Some of those boys had never seen a hillside hardly, and we brought them up the mountain around Cucumber Falls, which is almost straight up. They got so excited that some of them wanted to jump off. After they got into camp, they were so scared they didn't want to get off the trucks. Then, I had to make some of these boys truck drivers. We were hauling red dog from Oliver #l up the Summit. After we'd get through Hopwood and up the mountain, I'd let the boys drive from the dump. As soon as the truck would hit the mountain, it would die down and they would shift into a lower gear, goose the motor, and try and get it into a higher gear. I'd have to pull them off the road and explain that this was not the right thing to do.. I finally got a good bunch of truck drivers out of them. LNS: Did you teach any of them how to drive from scratch? Maskulka: No, they all knew how to drive an automobile. I still had another problem with them, too. They were coming to the top of the mountain and kicking the trucks out of gear. They wanted to see who could go past Braddock's Grave the fastest. They got a surprise one day when the State Police were waiting on them at the bottom of this side of the Summit. The State Police told me what was going on and we stopped that pretty quick. LNS: Was more than one truck driver doing this at a time? -*fl ,. Maskulka: I think all of them were doing it the way I found out.

LNS: -~~-7 Did'the, __ State/Police., do anything to them? Maskulka: No, they only talked to a couple of them. I told them that I'd straighten it out. We didn't have any more problems after that. LNS: / Can you tell me any other similar stories? Maskulka: Not off hand, I can't think of any. LNS: Anything else about the CCC program in general or Fort Necessity? Maskulka: It's a good program. I wish right at this time we had something similar to this. We have a lot of young people that could really go into this and it would do them a lot of good. LNS: Thank you, Mr. Maskulka. This concludes our interview. End of interview.